XFX decided to refresh the old design with a new dual-slot cooler. The new cooler matches XFX’s new overall look, an all-black and very sleek design. We must say that we miss the old Dual Dissipation cooler with the metal bar on top, with the card name prominently displayed. However, the new cooler is quite a looker, too. The cooler uses two 8.5cm fans, and the heatsink is a little bit bigger compared to the one used on the DD HD 7870 cooler. The new cooler should provide better performance while keeping noise levels at minimum.

Top of the card is very attractive thanks to a small opening in the shroud which also serves as an exhaust vent. The R9 270X needs two 6-pin power cables for normal operation. According to AMD the R9 270X will draw a maximum of 180 Watts.

The cooler uses four 6-mm hetpipes. You can see two of them through the opening at the top of the card.

On the I/O panel you will find two mini-DisplayPorts, one standard HDMI and two DVI connectors (one dual-link DVI and one single-link DVI). Next generation 4K (4096x2160) and UHD (3840x2160) resolutions are supported.

You can also use any combination of display connectors or use four outputs at the same time. It is possible to chain up six monitors when using an MST hub. Please note that the DVI outputs no longer support analog monitors. One HDMI 1.4a compatible sound device is built in the GPU, which also includes HD audio and Blu-ray 3D movies support so there is no need to connect the card to your motherboard’s/soundcard’s SPDIF out to get audio and video via HDMI.

The card has a single Crossfire connector and you can combine it with another R9 270X card or with an old HD 7870 GHz Edition.